Crossword Genius

Calorie-free crumpet, battered - a deep-fried speciality (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

tempura

'deep-fried speciality' is the definition.

'calorie-free crumpet battered a' is the wordplay.
'calorie' becomes 'c'.
'free' indicates named letters should be taken away.
'battered' is an anagram indicator.
'crumpet' with 'c' taken out is 'rumpet'.
'rumpet' is an anagram of 'tempur'.
'tempur'+'a'='TEMPURA'

(Other definitions for tempura that I've seen before include "Foreign dish" , "Deep-fried in batter, Japanese-style" , "Japanese battered dish" , "Food that's been dipped in batter and deep-fried" , "Japanese dish fried in batter" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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